Locking handle for automobile doors



w. C. DEVEREAUX LOCKING HANDLE FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS Feb. 26, 1929. 1,703,338

Filed Jan. 21,

aft u Patented Feb. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM C. DEVEREAX, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

y LOCKING HANDLE FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS.

Application led January21, 1928.

This invention relates to door handles and" particularly to locking handles for yvehicle doors.

An'object of the invention is the arrangement of a rotative, latch-controlling, vehicle door handle whereby it may be readily inserted into position for use when occupying a cer tain rotative position, and as readily removed therefrom when returned to the same rotative position in an unlocked condition, and to associate with said lhandle a common means for locking said handle against rotation and against removal from the door when in the specified position. f

Another object is to extend the shank of a vehicle door handle through an aperture formed in a suitable member, and to provide upon said shank a projection, normally regn istrable by rotation with a restricted portion of said aperture to permit removal of the handle and shank, and actuable to an increasingly projected position to prevent such removal, a portion of said projection being thereby engageable in the restriction of said aperture to prevent rotation of said handle.

A further object is to extend the shank of a vehicle door handle through an escutcheon member exteriorly attached toa door, and to dispose within said escutcheon member -a spring exerting an inward thrust upon said shank to maintain the shank in operative po sition within the hub ofthe latch-bolt and also maintain iirm contact between saidf escutclieon member and a finishino` sleeve sur# rounding the shank between thetliandlevandy escutcheon member f 4 These and various other objects the inven- ,tion attains by the construction hereinafter .described and illustrated in the accompany- ,ing drawing, wherein:

' Figure 1 is an axial horizontalsectional view of the herein disclosed handle installed upon a vehicle door, a portion of the outer sheathing of the door only being shown.

Figure Q is a substantially similar view in which, however, the handle and its shank are lockedagainst rotation and against removal from the door.

Figure 3 is a view in end elevation of saidl handle showing a fragmentary outsideportion of the door which carries the handle.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional .view taken uponthe line 4-4 of Figure 1, disclosing the aperture in the door through which the shank of the handle passes.

Figure 5 is a crosssectional view taken Serial No. 248,382.

upon the line 5-5 of lFigure 1 showing a provision for rigidly connecting the tubular outer portion of said shank to the inner stem portion of the same, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of that portion ofthe door which is apertured to admit the shank of the handle, and showing a mein yber carried by said shank actuable to lock the shank in said aperture.

In these views the reference character 1 designates a handle mounted fast upon a shank 2, 3 for actuating a'door latch mecha# nisni (not shown). said shank is tubular and is connected to the handle in any suitable manner as by forming upon said member a terminal annular Harige 4, which is welded or `otherwise secured to the handle. The inner portion 3 of said shank has the natureof a stem of rectangular yci'oss section which may be reduced at its inner end, as indicated at 5, to engage said latch mechanism andwhich has its outer end rigidly secured to the member 2 as, for example, by forming said stem with a terminal head 6, which is pinned or riveted within the inner end of the tubular member, as

` indicated at 7.

The member 2 passes through a slot 8 herejointly formed in the sheet metal outer sheathing 9 of a vehicle doorand in a relatively thick sheet metal plate 10, ,welded or otherwise suitably rigidly attached to the interior :tace of said sheathing. The restricted portion of said slot is designated 8u.

The head 6 is diametrically slotted to slid ably receive a bolt 1,1 adapted for actuation in its sliding travel upon turning movement of a cylinder lock 12 housed rotatively within the member 2 and eccentrically provided upon its inner end ,with a pin 13, which freely enters va groove 14 extending in the bolt 11 transversely of its sliding travel. The lock 12 is rotatively actuable throughy some suitable control member, as an ordinary key 15.

The bolt 11 is disposed just within the sheathing 9 and partially occupies that portion of the slot 8 which is formed in the plate 10, the member 2 being formed with an opening 16 through which said bolt projects. The bolt 11 has at its outer end a tongue 17 so reduced in thickness and so offset toward the inner face of said bolt as to lie clear of the slot 8. When said holt is retracted, as is illustrated in Figures 1 and 6, said tongue is The outer member 2 of registra-ble with the restricted portion 8a of the slot 8 in one rotative position ot the shank 2, 3, thus providing for removal of the shank and its handle from the door when the escutcheon 18 is also tree tromthe door. Also when said bolt is thus retracted, the shank is tree to rotate in the opening 8 tor actuation ot the controlled latch mechanism (not shown). When, However, the cylinder lock 12 is turned (as by use ot the key 15) to project the bolt 11 to the position shown in Figure 2, the body of said bolt engages in the restriction 8 of the slot 8, locking said shank against rotation, and the tongue 17 oi said bolt interiorly overlaps the plate 10 to prevent outward withdrawal ot the shank trom the door, as long as the lock 12 remains in such locked position.

To impart a finished appearance to the installation an escutcheon plate 18, which may be a sheet metal stamping, is exteriorly secured by screws 19 to the sheathing member 9, and a sleeve 2O formed preferably ot thin sheet metal encloses the tubular member 2 between the handle and said escutcheon. Normally the escutcheon 1S additionally serves to prevent any withdrawal ot' the shank 2, 3 from the door, there being a ring 21 upon said shank within said escutcheon and a spring 22 coiled about the shank within the escutcheon between an embossed central portionv 18n thereof and said spring. The ring 21 may be adapted in any suitable mann ner to transmit the inward thrust of the spring22 to the'shank. As shown, a thimble 23 which embraces the inner end portion ot' the member 2 provides a seat for the ring 21, said thimble having its inner end flanged inwardly as indicated at 23% and the stem l being slightly upset, as indicated at 211, to hold the lange 23a against the head 6 of said stem. Thusthe spring 22 urges the shank 2, 3 inwardly to constantly maintain iirm contact between the linish-ing, sleeve 2O and the escutcheon' 18, tending to prevent rattle and automatically maintaining substantially the same exterior `appearance on all the handles despite slight dilierences in widths ot doors or spacing. of the controlled latchI mechanisms.

In the use of the described construction the handle 1 and the shank 2, 3 form a unit which is rotatable in the door to control a latch mechanism (not shown) .Y Normally the bolt 11 is fully retracted and consequently is no hindrance to rotative actuation ot the handle and shank. It it be desired to remove the handle andy shank for effecting repairs or for any other purpose, this may be readily accomplished when the bolt 11 is retracted by withdrawing the screws 19 holding the escutcheonin place and then registering the tongue 17 of the bolt with the restriction 8a ot the slot 8. l

In locking the handle 1 against use it is also desirable to prevent any removal ot said handle from the door. The bolt 11 when projected through rotative actuation ot' the cylinder lock 12 serves to accomplish both ot these results,A the tongue 17 of said bolt interiorly overlapping the plate 10 to prevent removal of the shankand handle and the body ot said bolt engaging in therestriction 8 to hold the shank and handle against rotation.

It is to be noted that the described construction accomplishes its purposes in an er;i Ceedingly simple manner and is compara-- tively inexpensive since Vits parts are primarily sheet metal such as may be economically produced in quantities by vstamping operations. ,l

While it will be apparent that the illus? trated embodiment et my invention herein disclosed is well calculated to adequately tullill the objects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptiblel to variation, 7moditicatlio'n and change within the spirit and scope of the subjoined claims.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. In a. latch handle mechanism, the combination with a handle, a shank carrying said handle, and a closure, of a member carried by said closure having an aperture receiving said shank and formed with a restriction at one side ot the shank, a bolt Carried by and slidable transversely of the shank and having anouter end portion registering with said restriction in the retracted position ot said bolt and interiorly overlapping. said apertured member in its projected position vto prevent withdrawal of the shank and handle from the closure, and means carried by the shank eXteriorly of the closure for actuating said belt.

2. In a. latch handle mechanism, the combi: nat-ion with ai normally rotativev handle, a shank carrying said handle,and a closure7 of a member carried by said closure having an aperture receiving said shank,land formed with a restriction at one side ot the shank, a normally retracted bolt transversely slidable in said shank disposed partially withinsaid aperture and having a tongue at the inner side of the apertured member,registrarble in the retracted position of the bolt with said restriction, whereby the shank and its handle are removable trom the closure,saidlbolt being proportioned to enter said restriction, whenprojected, to lock said,A shank from rotation, and

the tongue of the bolt when the latter is proj ected being adapted to overlap the inner face of the apertured plate to prevent withdrawal of the shank Jfrom the closure, and means canaried by theshank eXteriorly of the closure for actua-ting said bolt.

3; In a latchrha-ndle mechanism, the combination with a handle, a shank carrying saidV handle, and a closure, of a member carried by sald closure having an aperture accommodating said shank, and formed with a restriction at one side of the shank, a bolt carried by the shank having a tongue registrable in one position of said bolt and in one position of rotation of said shank with said restriction to permit Withdrawal of the shank and handle from the closure, said bolt being movable to engage in said restriction and to project its tongue beyond said restriction, to prevent Withdrawal of the shank and means carried by said shank eXteriorly of said closure for actuating said bolt independently of rotation of the shank.

4. In a latch handle mechanism, the combination With a latch handle, a shank carrying saidhandle, and a closure, of a member secured to said closure apertured to normally rotatively receive said shank and formed With a restriction at one side of the shank, a bolt carried by said shank movable relative to the shank to engage in the restriction of said aperture to lock the shank from rotation, and having a portion normally registrable With said restriction and adapted to overlap the inner face of said apertured member When the bolt is entered in said restriction, said bolt being transversely grooved, a cylinder locky rotatable in the outer portion of saidshank, and a pin eccentrically carried by the inner end of said cylinder lock and engaging in said groove of the bolt to actuate the bolt from said lock.

5. In a latch handle mechanism, the combination With a closure and its latch handle, of a shank comprising a tubular outer member carrying said handle and a stem secured at its outer end Within said tubular member, a member carried by said closure formed With an permit removal of the shank and handle from the door, said bolt being movable relative to the shank into the restriction of said aperture to lock the shank from rotation and to project said tongue beyond said restriction and thereby to prevent Withdrawal of the shank from the door, and means Within the tubular portion of the handle for retracting and projecting said bolt.

6. In a latch handle mechanism, the combination With a latch handle and a shank carrying said handle, of a closure in which said handle is rotatable a member interiorly secured to said closure, said member and closure being jointly formed With a slot of substantially key-hole shape, a bolt carried by the shank and movable relative thereto to engage in the restriction'of said slot to lock the shank from rotation, said bolt having a tongue proj ecting beyond said slot in the locking position of the bolt to prevent removal, of the shank and handle, and means carried by the outer portion of said shank for actuating said bolt.

In Witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM C. DEVEREAUX. 

